UPPER 60s. AND FOD'S HEALTH CAST IS ALL ABOUT -- TODAY'S HEALTH CAST SAVING THE SMALLEST OF PATIENTS. RIGHT HERE IN SOUTH FLORIDA THERE'S A NEW HIGH TECH WAY TO KEEP BABIES HEALTHY WHILE THEY WAIT WEEKS OR MONTHS FOR A HEART TRANSPLANT. I KNOW IT SOUNDS STRANGE BUT THANKS TO MODERN MEDICINE THESE LITTLE ONES CAN PRACTICALLY HOLD THEIR HEARTS IN THEIR HANDS AND IN A MINUTE I CAN SHOW YOU HOW YOU CAN SAVE MORE KIDS. DON'T LET THOSE BRIGHT EYES AND CHUBBY CHEEKS FOOL. YOU NINE-MONTH-OLD TATIANA ISRAEL HAS BEEN A VERY SICK LITTLE BABY. WHEN SHE WAS JUST TWO MONTHS OLD HER PARENTS BROUGHT HER TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM WITH WHAT THEY THOUGHT WAS A BAD CASE OF THE FLU. WE GOT HERE AND THEY JUST LIKE, WE GOT TO OPERATE NOW, NOW, NOW. THERE'S NO LIKE WE CAN THINK ABOUT EVERYTHING ELSE LATER BUT IF WE DON'T GET HER AN OPERATION RIGHT NOW, THERE'S NO MORE. Reporter: THE DIAGNOSIS, CARDIOMYOPATHY. IT'S DISTEND WED BLOOD THAT ISN'T BEING PUMP OUT THE WAY IT SHOULD BE. Reporter: THAT'S HER HEART, DANGERLY ENLARGED. THE HEART MUSCLE ITSELF JUST ISN'T FUNCTIONING PROPERLY, SO HER HEART IS NOT CONTRACTING, IT'S NOT ABLE TO PUMP PLUD BLOTTED EFFECTIVELY OR EFFICIENTLY. Reporter: BUT TATIANA IS ALIVE AND THRIVING THANKS TO THIS. IT'S AMAZING, RIGHT? Reporter: IT'S THE BERLIN HEART, A SMALL PECKS TERNAL HEART PUMP ATTACHED TO TIANA'S OWN HEART BY HILL TUBES. SHE IS ONE OF THE YOUNGES CHILDREN EVER TO BE PUT ON THE BERLIN HEART. THIS MACHINE DOING SOME OF THE WORK HER HEART IS JUST TOO SICK TO DO. JOE DiMAGGIO CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL IS THE ONLY SOUTH FLORIDA HOSPITAL USING THE BERLIN HEART. THE REVOLUTIONARY DEVICE ALLOWING LITTLE ONES LIKE TIANA TO STAY HEALTHY, ALERT AND MOBILE WHILE WAITING FOR A TRANSPLANT. SHE CAN BE DEVELOPING RELATIVELY NORMALLY WITH REGARD TO HER SPEECH DEVELOPMENT AND FEEDING AND WALKING AND DOING ALL THE THINGS THAT A RELATIVELY NORMAL CHILD WOULD DO AT THIS AGE. Reporter: TIANA HAS BEEN WAITING SIX MONTHS. THE BERLIN HEART KEEPING HER ALIVE UNTIL A NEW HEART IS DONATED. I JUST WANT HER HOME. SO SHE COULD MAKE A MESS WITH HER BROTHERS AND SISTERS JUST LOOK EVERYTHING ELSE. LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE. SAY. CUTE BABY. NOW, I PROMISE WE'RE GOING TO FOLLOW UP WHEN LITTLE TIANA GETS THAT LIFE-SAVING HEART TRANSPLANT. IN THE MEANTIME TECHNOLOGY ISN'T CHEAP SO YOUR BIG HEARTS CAN HELP THESE LITTLE HEART THAT BENEFITS JOE DiMAGGIO'S HOSPITAL, THE EVENT SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23RD PLAN FOR IT AT MIRAMAR REGIONAL PARK. I WILL BE RIDING IN THE 50K

MIAMI -

A new, high tech tool that's now available in South Florida is helping keep babies alive and healthy while they wait for a heart transplant. Thanks to modern medicine, little ones can practically hold their hearts in their hands.

Nine-month-old Tatiana Israel may look like a healthy little girl, but she has been a very sick baby.

When she was just two months old, her parents brought her to the emergency room with what they thought was a bad case of the flu.

"We got here and they said, 'We have to operate now. We can think about it later, but have to do it or there's no more,'" said her father, Jacob Israel.

The diagnosis: cardiomyopathy. Meaning Tatiana's heart was dangerously enlarged and blood was not being pumped the way it should be.

"The heart muscle itself just isn't functioning properly, so her heart is not contracting. It is not able to pump blood out effectively or efficiently," said Dr. Maryanne Chrisant.

But Tatiana is alive and thriving thanks to the Berlin Heart, a small, external heart pump attached to her own heart by tiny tubes.

She is one of the youngest patients ever to use the Berlin Heart, it's lifesaving pumps doing some of the work her heart is too sick to do.

Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital is the only South Florida Hospital using the Berlin Heart, a revolutionary device that allows little ones like Tatiana to stay healthy, alert and mobile while awaiting a transplant.

This means she can develop relatively normally with regards to speech development, feeding, walking, and doing all the things a normal child would do at her age.

Tatiana has been waiting six months for a heart. In the meantime, the Berlin Heart is keeping her alive.

Her family says they just want her home so she can be with her brothers and sisters.

Local 10 will follow up this story when Tatiana receives her heart transplant. The technology that's keeping her alive isn't cheap. So big hearts can help little hearts by participating or donating to the 5th Annual Tour de Broward to benefit the Cardiac Center at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital. The event is on Sunday, Feb. 23 at Miramar Regional Park.

Local 10's Kristi Krueger will be riding in the 50K cycling challenge and Julie Durda will be participating in the 5K run. It's a great day, lots of fun and all for a great cause.

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